Amanda Knox Won't Attend New Italian Trial, Lawyer Says

In 2011, Amanda Knox spoke to the media after arriving in the U.S., following a years-long criminal case against her in the death of a roommate in Italy. A new trial for Knox is planned to begin in Florence, Italy, next month.

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Originally published on August 26, 2013 11:27 am

Amanda Knox, whose murder conviction was overturned in 2011, will not travel to Italy for a new trial in the stabbing death of a fellow student. In May, Italy's supreme court ordered Knox to be tried again, along with her former boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito.

David Marriott, a spokesman for the Knox family, tells CNN that Knox's presence isn't required at the trial in Florence that's scheduled to begin on Sept. 30. At this time, there are no reports of extradition proceedings to bring Knox to the court.

A native of Seattle, Wash., Knox was a college student in Perugia, Italy, in 2007 when her roommate, Briton Meredith Kercher, was found murdered. The case became a sensation in Italy, where new reports featured incremental updates on police activity and salacious accounts of the college students' lives.

Before her successful appeal, Knox spent more than three years in Italy's jails, from the time of her arrest to the court's decision to overturn a 26-year prison sentence.

On Saturday, Florence newspaper La Nazione reported that Knox won't be returning to Italy for trial, citing her lawyer, Luciano Ghirga. The attorney says he met with Knox recently to discuss the upcoming court date.

Knox is currently living in Seattle, where she has a part-time job cataloging books at a city library, Ghirga tells the newspaper.